"The Veterans Cannabis Coalition put this event together to showcase different ways for people to interact with cannabis, the natural relationship between veterans and cannabis, and to help normalize the perception of the herb in the eyes of the general public,” said Eric Goepel, founder & CEO, Veterans Cannabis Coalition. “We see this as part of our overall mission to end prohibition and hope to use events like these to build political support for cannabis reform legislation."

“The fact that Pete Sessions, as chair of the House Rules Committee, has blocked the veterans Equal Access Amendment specifically and cannabis bills generally without anything as much as light admonishment from House leadership, shows where the conference’s true feelings lie.”

“Every day that cannabis prohibition continues is a day a veteran dies unnecessarily. The Republican conferees on the House Appropriations Committee and House Republican leadership should be ashamed of this backroom deal that stripped the Veterans Equal Access amendment from this year’s MILCON-VA appropriations bill. “

“Federal law prohibits VA doctors from prescribing or recommending medical marijuana to veterans,” Nelson said in a statement. “This legislation will allow veterans in Florida and elsewhere the same access to legitimately prescribed medication, just as any other patient in those 31 states would have.”

We believe this bill recognizes and works to end the absurd and destructive catch-22 that veterans who medicate with cannabis find themselves in—where the federal government criminalizes them for possession, hinders them in talking to their primary care VA doctors about cannabis, and blocks nearly all research into cannabis’ medical efficacy.

“We believe VA has the authority, ability and capacity to carry out such a study,” they wrote. “Many of our nation’s veterans already use medicinal cannabis, and they deserve to have full knowledge of the potential benefits and side effects of this alternative therapy.”

Self-care and gainful employment are critical components of life-long success for not just veterans but all Americans. For the federal government to essentially punish citizens, who are under the protection of their state laws, for exercising their right to care for themselves is an affront to personal liberty.

Depressed, anxious, in chronic pain, disconnected from themselves and others, suicidal—this is the reality for some. But for those who discovered cannabis, there was relief. They could sleep, they could relax, they did not feel on constant guard or plagued by memories of war. Most of those veterans now medicate with nothing else but cannabis; they’ve kicked a host of powerful pharmaceuticals and end up having a much better quality of life in the process.

If anyone deserves access to safe and effective medicinal cannabis, it's the men and women who have served our country in the United States Armed Forces. Eric Goepel is an Army veteran and political activist now heading up the Veterans Cannabis Coalition.

“During my time in Washington, D.C. working on veterans affairs policy, I became convinced that ending the prohibition of cannabis was the ‘good war’ I had been searching for. I had seen first-hand the immense benefit that many veterans had experienced medicating with cannabis, often after going through years of conventional pharmaceutical treatments…that destroyed their quality of life.”

Specifically, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, effectively decriminalizing it at the federal level. The legislation allows states to continue to function as laboratories of democracy and ultimately decide how they will treat marijuana possession.

The campaign didn't appear to have significant funding from major national drug policy reform groups that have helped to pass measures in other states over several past election cycles. It also faced an opposition that poured roughly half a million dollars into television ads seeking to undermine support for medical marijuana.

The U.S. health regulator approved GW Pharmaceuticals Plc’s epilepsy treatment on Monday, making it the first cannabis-based drug to win approval in the country and opening floodgates for more research into the medicinal properties of cannabis.

The committee’s review of existing scientific literature on the effectiveness of cannabis treatment for these and other conditions found evidence that cannabinoids reduce pain, promote sleep and improve motor function for individuals with Parkinson’s disease.

"We want the laws to reflect that cannabis should not be considered a schedule I substance—it does have medical value," says Goepel. “To that end, we’re trying to drive research into the VA to study its applications and work ultimately to provide every veteran, no matter which zip code they live in, access to cannabis.”

“Some have tried to find the benefits of dealing with pain through self-medicating marijuana, and doctors, particularly at the VA need to understand this and how it can affect their diagnoses, and I have heard from veterans that this has been helpful,” Sullivan said.